Hi,

 

I would like to put the next serial increment value into a message box but I get no value when I use ….

 

"Your next value is " & GetNextSerialValue ( Get ( FileName ) ; User::UserID )

 

I don't want to use it, just reference it in a message box. 

 

Since the above function yields no value in a message box, is there another way ?

 

Thank you.

 

 

Tom

 

 

"Your next value is " & GetNextSerialValue ( Get ( FileName ) ; User::UserID )

 

You need to pass the field name as a literal expression.

 

Did you read the documentation? 

Eos,

 

I read Filemaker's definitions ...

 

Data type returned 

text

Originated in 

FileMaker Pro 6.0 or earlier

Description 

Field names must be fully qualified in the format tablename::fieldname to specify a field that exists in a table different from the current table.

Examples 

GetNextSerialValue(“Customers”;”CustID”) returns the next serial number for the CustID field.

Eos,

 

So ...

 

I put the field in quotes … :-) Gotcha !! :-)

 

Thank you.

Eos,

 

GetNextSerialValue ( Get ( FileName ) ; "User::UserID" )

 

Works perfectly :-)

 

Again, thank you.

 

Tom

Why don't you quote the important part:
 
Important  Literal text parameters such as filenames and layout names must be enclosed in quotation marks. Use quotation marks around field names to indicate the literal string is the parameter (omit quotation marks to indicate the value stored in the field is the parameter).
http://www.filemaker.com/help/13/fmp/en/html/func_ref1.31.34.html#1028995
 
What this means is that your version:

GetNextSerialValue ( Get ( FileName ) ; User::UserID )

looks inside the User::UserID  field for the name of the field to get the next serial value from. You need to use either:
 

GetNextSerialValue ( Get ( FileName ) ; "User::UserID" )

or, preferably (to prevent the calculation from breaking if the field is renamed):
 

GetNextSerialValue ( Get ( FileName ) ; GetFieldName ( User::UserID ) )

Great explanation, Michael.  I believe I have some fields mis-specified this same way.